Umali Cup, a postmortem

And so, the 1st Gov. Umali Chess Cup Championship has ended.

It started without so much noise, went on, and ended with the same flat note.

An event of this magnitude didn’t deserve that cold reception. It was a big, big chess tournament – if not the biggest local chess tournament ever staged in the Philippines.

Just imagine the prizes involved and the names and number of people who participated.

I salute Gov. Umali for coming up with this kind of project and for bringing it to its superlative level.

What I didn’t like was the way it was projected to the chess community.

It should have been an event that could bring Philippine chess into higher level, only if projected properly to the chess world.

Nowadays, it’s not enough to read in the newspapers who beat whom, who is the leading player, what round is it already, etc.

We have already entered the period when the chess community wants to watch real games from the comfort of their homes.

Chess fans nowadays want to see the games of their idols move by move – in real time as much as possible.

Chess fans want to feel the adrenaline while the game is being fought. They want to discuss ideas. They simply want to be IN the game.

It doesn’t have to be costly, I tell you. The information technology is well within reach to make it possible.

As we all know by now, there is already a benchmark in staging a successful chess tournament for the whole chess world to enjoy.

It’s not only about the prizes. It’s not only about the participants. It’s not only about the event itself.

The most important thing is how to bring a chess tournament to the chess community! It’s about making chess a wonderful experience for the whole world to live with.

The most concrete example on how to run a chess tournament – for the whole world to enjoy – is the way Corus Chess 2009 is being projected to the whole world.

Oh please, NCFP, when will you ever learn?